In the event of mandibular fracture or in the event of oral and maxillofacial surgery, it is necessary to bring the teeth of the patient into proper occlusion and secure the jaw in stabilization to thereby secure the maxillary bond tissue in appropriate position for efficient healing. A number of developments have been conceived for stabilizing the upper and lower jaws of the patient following corrective surgery or bone positioning. One such development is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 2,481,17 of Tofflemire, which describes an intraoral fracture reduction appliance which stabilizes the mandibular arch relative to the maxillary arch and provides a structural bridge to secure the bones of the mandibular arch in proper assembly. The maxillary and mandibular sections of the apparatus are interconnected by elastic bands 32 that could be released to permit movement of the jaw. Under emergency conditions, however, it would be necessary to remove or cut eight elastic bands in order to permit movement of the jaw. Further, the surgeon or patient would need to have tools available to accomplish release of the appliance. In certain circumstances, such as when vomiting occurs, it is desirable to effect instant release of the splint in order that the needs of the patient may be attended to.
A conventional way of immobilizing either the maxillary or maxillofacial structures is to provide elongated bars such as arch bars, which are secured to the buccal and labial faces of certain ones of the teeth. The arch bars are then interconnected by fine twisted wire. The securing of arch bars with fine wires wrapped around certain ones of the teeth is particularly disadvantageous in that affixation of the wires takes considerable time to perform, during which the patient is often under a general anesthetic and is exposed to the hazards associated therewith. Moreover, the wires frequently break, are uncomfortable and are prone to trapping food particles. Other techniques include the provision of several small brackets which are secured to selected ones of the teeth and then interconnected by a complex set of archwires. In certain instances the archwires are strung between the upper and lower tooth sets to fix the jaw in a permanently closed condition until the corrective or healing process is sufficiently complete that the positions of the bones will be maintained without external support.
The procedure for attaching the aforementioned brackets, and stringing the archwires is complicated and often results in structural failure of the parts, thereby requiring second and third efforts to rebuild the structure before the corrective process is complete. Moreover, the complex structures associated with the prior art apparatus are often uncomfortable and irritating to the gingiva and other oral tissues and tend to trap food particles resulting in the adverse effects caused thereby. Pain and discomfort to the patient caused by present prior art devices are a major problem that needs to be overcome.
A more recent improvement entitled "Jaw Fixation Assembly" is the subject matter of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 864,006 filed by John B. Gatewood on May 16, 1986. In accordance with the teachings of Gatewood, U-shaped anchor members are positioned in anchoring relation with respective teeth of the maxillary and mandibular arches and receive retainer members which are in the form of grooved ball-like or button-like structures that are threaded onto the ends of the U-shaped members. Cross-wiring is then employed between the retainer members to provide a solid unmovable jaw fixation assembly. The jaw fixation assembly of Gatewood represents a substantial improvement over previous methods of jaw fixation, nevertheless it does not provide any means for quickly and efficiently effecting release of the upper and lower jaws such as in the case of emergency.
Accordingly, there has been a continuing need not only for appliances for improving and simplifying jaw fixation for efficient mobilization of the jaw structure but also for an appliance that may be effectively and quickly released to permit jaw movement such as during emergency conditions. The present invention provides these and other features.